If you like data, you’ll love it. But if you’d prefer something a bit more readable, you’ll be pleased to hear that we’ve put together our own guide to the state of the alternative finance industry, keeping the emphasis squarely on Real Estate Alternative Finance, of course.

Things have changed since NESTA published its report, ‘The Rise of Future Finance’ in 2013. At that time, the alternative finance industry was worth £939m. In 2015, NESTA reported its value at £3.2bn. The market is on course to surpass the £5bn mark in 2016.

It’s not just financially that the alternative finance sector has grown. It has evolved taxonomically, too.

In the 2013 report, NESTA identified a range of distinct funding models operating in the sector. Two years later, 28% of alternative finance platforms surveyed reported that they were operating a ‘mixed’ or ‘other’ business model, which does not fit into the existing taxonomy.

The 2013 report has no mention whatsoever of the terms ‘real estate’ or ‘housing’. And yet, by 2015, NESTA’s report segments data on Real Estate Alternative Finance into its own category, such is the proportion of the industry it covers.

In 2015, Real Estate and Housing was the most popular sector for the alternative finance market.

Real Estate and Housing

Technology

Manufacturing and Engineering

Food and Drink

Retail and Wholesale

Leisure and Hospitality

Community and Social Enterprise

Finance

Construction

Education and Research

Combined debt and equity-based funding for Real Estate Alternative Finance amounted to nearly £700m in 2015, with P2P business lending in Real Estate (for mortgages and property development) taking the lion’s share: £609m – 41% of the total volume of P2P business loans in 2015.

The market volume of equity-based crowdfunding is much more modest, coming in at £87m for 2015, still a very significant sum.

Perhaps some of this extraordinary success has something to do with institutional funding in the P2P Real Estate lending sector? Institutional funding was around 25% in 2015, and up to 75% on some platforms.

P2P business lending for Real Estate comprises a range of financing models and products. There are the short term bridging finance loans, which run for a 12 to 18 month period. Them, there are the longer term (3-5 years) commercial and residential mortgages, and construction/development debt finance.

In 2015, the average size of P2P loans for Real Estate came in at £522,333, slightly under 2014’s £662,425 average. The figure for 2015 was more in line with the average UK house price than the previous year. This may be due to the growing use of P2P lending in funding residential and commercial mortgages, rather than the larger developments focused on in 2014.

Just a quick clarification point here: regulatory constraints mean you cannot use P2P Real Estate lending for your own residential mortgage.

It’s also not a done deal to apply for a loan for a Real Estate development: in 2015, 27.5% of loan applications in P2P Real Estate lending were accepted.

The average number of lenders required to fund a typical P2P Real Estate loan? 490.

Equity-Based Crowdfunding for Real Estate

This model enables investors to acquire ownership of a property asset, via the purchase of shares, either of a single property, or a number of properties as part of a portfolio.

In 2015, equity-based crowdfunding for Real Estate raised a total of £87m, for 174 development projects. This is how the annual quarters looked:

Q1 → £13.09m

Q2 → £23.16m

Q3 → £35.70m

Q4 → £14.63m

Equity-based crowdfunding for Real Estate had a great year in 2015. The record for fastest funding for a development project was set: £843,100 was raised in just 10 minutes and 43 seconds, from a total of 319 investors!

Unlike P2P Real Estate lending, with equity-based crowdfunding, there is scarcely any institutional involvement. Of the 10,626 funders participating in Real Estate crowdfunding, NESTA found that only 3% were categorised as institutional investors by the platform. This contrasts with the 77% of sophisticated or high net worth investors in the model.

Yes, equity based crowdfunded property investment is much more grass roots in many ways than the P2P Real Estate sector. The recent inclination to lower minimum investment thresholds in this area, with the aim of enticing more retail investors attests to this in a very clear way.

Whilst 27.5% of loan applications in P2P Real Estate lending were accepted in 2015, in equity-based crowdfunding for Real Estate, platform acceptance rate was much lower. Only 2.9% of deals made it onto the platform, on average.

However, deal success rate for those who did make it onto the platform was pretty high: 87%. There are also far fewer investors required for an equity deal – NESTA reports an average of 150 per deal. The average deal size for 2015 in the crowdfunding sector for property was fairly high, too: £820,042.

Real Estate Alternative Finance and Manchester

Of the 58 alternative finance platforms surveyed by NESTA for their report, 62% were – unsurprisingly – London-based. However, a significant 5.2% hailed from our home city of Manchester.

Manchester is also one of a number of regional and local authorities that have either partnered with online alternative finance platforms to fund local SMEs, or have used alternative finance methods to fund community projects.

NESTA’s data shows that the most active regions receiving funds from Real Estate crowdfunding were London (of course), the North East, and the North West. The North West was also found to be one of the top 3 regions actually providing funds.

This isn’t terribly surprising given the growing trend for emphasising Real Estate crowdfunding within areas in need of regeneration. Manchester has, as we know, come a very long way. The economy of the North West has been transformed over the last few years, in no small part due to the heavy investment in regeneration projects, in the form of development funding from both the public and private sectors.

It is these regeneration areas that are being identified as some of the potentially best investment opportunities. Not only do they cost investors less than prime locations, but these areas are also the ones that will experience the highest growth over coming years.

Real Estate Alternative Finance and The Government

Direct investment from the government has helped support the growth of both peer-to-peer and crowdfunding markets. In 2015, £60m was lent by the British Business Bank via P2P lending platforms, specifically for SMEs.

Tax incentives have also been applied, including the EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) and SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme). These schemes have been widely used, by a large proportion of investors using alternative funding platforms, and have been especially popular within the equity-based crowdfunding market.

The launch of the IFISA (Innovative Finance ISA) in April 2016 is also an exciting development in the alternative finance sector.

In particular, P2P business lending platforms for Real Estate expect the IFISA to generate a whopping 51.9% growth in transactional volume this year, whilst equity-based crowdfunding platforms for Real Estate predict 30.31% growth as a result of the IFISA.

The figures for Real Estate Alternative Finance outmatch those elsewhere in the alternative finance market. P2P consumer lenders, for example, expect a 26% increase in total volume as a result of the IFISA. It’s clear that Real Estate lending stands to benefit the most.

In anticipation of the influx of retail investors expected by the onset of the IFISA, some P2P Real Estate lending platforms are even lowering their investment thresholds.

What is the IFISA?

At its most basic, the Innovative Finance ISA allows UK investors to lend money using P2P lending platforms to invest up to 100% of their £15,240 annual ISA allowance, and to receive any interest and capital gains tax-free. You can find out more here.

Institutional Investment in Real Estate Alternative Finance

Catching the scent of a good thing, institutional investors are also muscling in on the peer-to-peer real estate lending market, as they are across the alternative finance industry.

It is estimated, based on platform reporting, that in the UK in 2015, 1,031 institutional funders were at the bottom of financing loans and equity deals in alternative finance.

45% of all alternative finance platforms reported institutional involvement in 2015. In 2014, this was 28%, and in 2013, just 11%.

For P2P business lending, in 2015 26% of total funding was attributable to institutional funding. In peer-to-peer Real Estate lending specifically, a total of 25% institutional funding was reported, with significant increase between the 3rd and 4th quarters of the year, in particular:

Q1 → 22%

Q2 → 22%

Q3 → 23%

Q4 → 31%

By contrast, however, in equity-based crowdfunding, 2015 saw just 8% of funding coming from institutions.

With institutional funding growing in the alternative finance market, as well as the influx of more high net worth investors, there is some discussion about whether the disruptive force of the alternative finance market is at risk of being stemmed.

Banking institutions have found themselves burdened with heavy regulatory compliance, cumbersome legacy systems and bureaucratic complexity. Since the debacle at the end of the last decade, the general populous has been hungry for new alternatives to the traditional financial system. Confidence has been lost, and – at the retail end of the investment spectrum at least – making one’s savings grow within the received systems has less potential for gains than what’s promised by alternative finance.

Alternative finance has become a key player in the development of a whole new generation of financial products. Along with a range of other FinTech solutions to saving, banking and investment, this revolutionary rumble has got the banks concerned.

It’s no wonder that, as such a disruptive movement grows, it finds itself on the precipice of being co-opted into the corporate world. But all the time that interest rates on savings accounts remain shockingly low, and first-time buyers view getting on the property ladder as likely as a winning Euromillions ticket, the prospect of a less suffocating alternative for growing money will continue to be thoroughly desirable.

And, focusing on Real Estate specifically, research conducted by Crowdstacker found that 44% of retail investors would like to increase their exposure to the UK property market, not only owning their own home, but also by investing through P2P lenders, like The House Crowd. Investor reluctance was found to centre around the time consuming nature and costs of property management, as well as affordability. The alternative finance model of crowdfunded property investment and P2P lending in Real Estate removes those factors from the equation.

2015 also saw the emergence of self-managed, platform-owned listed investment trusts, funds and vehicles: a sure sign that platforms are preparing to challenge the fund management space.

And as the alternative finance world continues to evolve, we are also seeing the emergence of a number of independent online aggregators, such as Informed Funding, FinPoint and ABF. These are rising up to provide additional channels and services for connecting business fundraisers to alternative finance platforms.

That being said, corporate interjection into the alternative finance space should not be considered a negative. It is this involvement that is allowing the industry to grow and evolve.

A number of P2P consumer lending platforms have struck high profile partnership deals with some big-name corporates.

Corporate partnerships have been witnessed between alternative finance platforms and large brands such as Virgin, Amazon, Uber and Sage. As NESTA puts it, these partnerships are “fusing the traditional corporate world with the disruptive models of alternative finance”.

It is these partnerships that will aid in increasing public awareness of the alternative finance sector, but not only this. Corporate partnerships will also attract high quality borrowers, reducing default rates on P2P loans, and also offers the potential for data gathering, which will enhance the industry’s credit scoring capabilities, and inform risk management.

The increasing involvement of high net worth investors, along with institutional funding and corporate partnerships is what is allowing alternative finance to push boundaries, blur definitions, and limit the dangers of orthodoxy: it is a catalyst for rapid evolution.

Conclusion

The extraordinary growth of the industry that we have witnessed over the last few years has begun to level out.

In 2015, the UK’s alternative finance industry facilitated investments, loans and donations totalling £3.2bn. In 2014, this figure was £1.74bn – a YoY growth rate of 83.91%, which is not to be sniffed at. But when you compare this to the 161% growth between 2013 and 2014, it looks positively small.

In 2014, 24 new alternative finance platforms began trading. This was down to 14 in 2015. Fewer new entrants are joining the market, whilst existing platforms continue to increase their total volumes at a steady rate.

Up until now, the industry appears to have been actively pushing its boundaries, both in its evolution, and in its rate of growth. Whilst the figures continue to be staggeringly impressive – with the market on course for a £5bn year in 2016 – plateauing figures are a good sign that the industry is maturing.

Alternative finance is coming of age with intelligence and dignity. It is listening to influential voices from big corporates, accepting helping hands where they are offered, and maintaining its grass roots persona. Most of all, however, it’s making money, not just for a few, but for a large body of investors all along the wealth spectrum. In Real Estate, it’s helping to regenerate run-down neighbourhoods, keeping a stagnant housing market moving, improving living standards across the board.

In short, alternative finance may have been a disruptive teenager, but it’s growing up to be a real force for good in the middle of a blighted financial landscape. The future of finance is looking promising.

Property News – All The Latest Updates

Hi guys and welcome to another fortnightly edition of our property news round-up. As usual we take a look at an array of stories from the property industry, today we look at Yorkshire and the Northern Powerhouse to looking at some Christmas decorated homes (just don’t let Dave come round and put your decorations up – you’ll see why!), if you’ve been extremely busy like ourselves, they’ll hopefully give you some inspiration for when you do finally get round to putting your Christmas lights up!

Yorkshire Earns Its Place In The Northern Powerhouse

In the past year the north of England has had a 30 per cent increase in construction and whilst Manchester and both Liverpool dominate, Yorkshire and Humberside are catching up with their north western rivals.

George Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse vision to give major northern cities their very own powers when it comes to planning, housing, transport, and policing, deals have already been discussed and agreed upon for Greater Manchester, Sheffield, and the North East.

However, when it comes to property, many analysts have stated that Yorkshire property growth is linked to simply supplying the housing that people want. Government schemes such as Help To Buy is one major factor that is helping to flourish “Gods Own County” when it comes to property, particularly for families who are starting out.

The county has definitely attracted people from the south, particularly from the capital, end of the day it’s no secret that you get more for your money up north compared with what you would get in the south. As the Examinermention, the cash you part with for a two-bedroom flat in west London would get you a 10 bedroom, Grade II listed, detached house with three acres of land in Lindley, Huddersfield.

In addition, the vibrant and beautiful Yorkshire countryside and huge investment opportunities in retail, technology, and research plus its rich culture (which we mentioned about in a previous blog post).

With all these factors you can see why Yorkshire has become a crowded marketplace as it continues to compete with Manchester and Liverpool and this one reason why we have had quite a few projects in the region. If you are interested in Yorkshire, feel free to download our South Yorkshire guide.

Top Of The League – Manchester A Top Choice For Investors

Since 2010 no other place in the country has generated higher yields for property investors than the north-west city. (Select Property, December 2015).

Investors have gained annual average returns of 6.02%, compared to just 4.79% in London according to data which was generated from lending firm LendInvest.

2015 has been a great year for the city as it has cemented its place as the Northern Powerhouse leader to being named as the UK’s number one city for property investment by HSBC.

Last month a survey which was conducted by accounting firm RSM found that the north-west is the second highest UK region for overseas investment. With a vast amount of investment being poured into the Northern Powerhouse leader as well as having a huge demand for rented spaces, investors have been quick to snap up assets in the city ahead of a predicted growth curve.

Is The London Property Market Going To Crash?

So what’s happening in the capital? To cut a long story short there’s simply too much supply and not enough demand. According to The Independent, in the last financial quarter alone, 6,000 new apartments were finished, each costing more than £600,000. Currently there are 41,000 homes and flats under construction or being topped out in London priced at north of £1m.

People without children want to live in apartments, these include the first buyers, buy-to-let investors, and people who’s main home is not in the capital. First-time buyers are therefore being prices out as they simply can’t afford a mortgage or afford to pay a deposit on a house.

In addition, foreign purchases from wealthy Russians and Chinese buyers has started to trickle. Vladimir Putin has put a crackdown on Russian citizens that hold cash overseas meaning that there has been less Russian buyers in London recently. Moving further east, China is also having a corruption purge as mentioned in The Independent.

So what does this all mean for the London property market? According to one property expert, it will take just one single developer not to sell, won’t be able to cover costs, and that’s when the crack will start to happen. He mentions that will be enough to send shockwaves through the market, and bring prices crashing down.

Are you looking for an alternative? If so, we recommend reading our crowdfunding process page to see if property crowdfunding is right for you.

Average Property Price Increases to £20,000 in 2015

Figures from Rightmove show that the average selling price for a home in December was £289,452, an increase of around £20,000 from the average house price a year ago. (Which, December, 2015).

The property portal mentioned that the seasonal 1.1% dip in property prices this month is the lowest December fall they have seen since 2006.

They have predicted that prices will reach new records next year and expects new seller asking prices to rise by 6% as the demand in excess of suitable supply continues.

As a result of prices remaining high in London, highly-skilled workers may look for other options and move to more affordable cities such as Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Leeds.

Decorated Christmas Homes – Let it Glow Let it Glow Let it Glow!

If you’re like me and leave your Christmas decorations to the last minute and if you are a big fan of Christmas lights you might want to take a look at some of the most Christmas decorated homes in the UK.

If you’re looking at decking up your front with fairy lights we think the 9th example is quite a good one to go for. If you like to go nuts with your lights and Christmas decorations how about the first example?

We’d love to see your creativity, feel free to tweet us your decorated home @TheHouseCrowd.

I hope you can do a better job than me! This is what it would look like if I was left in charge…

What Are Your Thoughts?

Which of our chosen property stories has interested you the most? We would love to hear from you, feel free to leave us a comment on our Facebook and Google Plus pages. If you prefer to tweet us, tweet @TheHouseCrowd.

In the meantime if you want to know more about Property Crowdfunding do register for our Information Pack which will tell you all about it.

Property News All The Latest Updates

Hi guys welcome to another edition of our property news blog, today we once again look at the latest goings-on in the domestic market from looking at the average house prices in Greater Manchester in 2030 to focusing on landlords that have had a property abandoned by tenants. If you missed our last property news round-up, catch up here.

Average House Prices In Greater Manchester Are Set to Reach Record Levels By 2030

According to new research from property search engine eMoov, the average house price in Greater Manchester is set to reach record levels by 2030.

First-time buyers will struggle even more, with an average home in the Greater Manchester area predicted to cost £316,920.

eMoov’s UK property research, which also looked at house prices from the start of the millennium to 2015 revealed that property prices had increased by 84%. This increase was then applied to every area of the country.

The only regions offering house prices below £280,000 are Merseyside at £275,074, East Riding of Yorkshire at £277,411 and County Durham at £279,985.

eMoov created a map (view here) which illustrates just how dangerous this current artificial inflation of the market could be in the long run (as mentioned in a previous article by eMoov’s CEO Russell Quirk), and the worrying thing is that it isn’t just the capital that will go beyond the average reach for these seeking to get on the property ladder.

Direct Foreign Investment Levels In Manchester Are Currently At A 10-Year High

According to Select Property Group 98 project deals were struck in the north-west in 2015, with the growth contributing to a 190% increase in new jobs across the region in just 12 months.

Key foreign investor focus included :- software, business services, construction and retail markets. In addition, it was revealed that investment from US funds was the north-west’s number one source of FDI projects, followed by European nations the Netherlands, Germany and France.

Manchester is the leading city in the north west according to the latest EY UK Attractiveness survey. Increased investment from foreign investors plus job growth in the city and the region have risen by 190% over the past year.

More Than Half Of UK Home Buyers Rent Before They Can Buy A Property

Some 64% of aspiring home owners in the UK rent a property before they pick up the keys to their very own home, new research has found. (Property Wire, May 2016)

Saving for a deposit remains one of the biggest financial hurdles facing first time buyers and research from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banksfound that renters are less likely to benefit from help from family, with only 41% receiving any financial assistance, compared to 62% of those who are living with their parents or family members.

Our very own research last year on millennials showed that Generation Y feel that UK property is so out of reach that 23% say they will have to wait until they inherit money before they can get on the property ladder, also, 36% of those surveyed said they felt they’d have to rent forever.

Another sobering piece of research, this time conducted by Royal London, almost five million renters in the UK have no plans in place to cover their rent if they became too ill to earn for three months or more, even though recent cuts to housing benefits could leave them at risk (as mentioned in this Property Wire article).

Are you looking for an alternative? If you are a part-time/ novice investor who does not have a deposit available or the ability to get a mortgage, property crowdfunding might be for you. Why not take a look at how the process works here.

Britain’s ‘Property Premier League’ Locations With The Highest House Prices

Leicester might have been crowned 15/16 Barclays Premier League Champions but when it comes to the ‘Property Premier League’ the Foxes sit in 8th place whilst Chelsea win the Property League title with the highest average house prices (£1,152,137!), however, it is not all good news for the Stamford Bridge side as luxury properties prices in the area saw a significant slowdown this year which brought the average value down with it.

So how did our Manchester clubs get on? United finished the property season in 11th place – the M16 post code saw a hefty drop since the season kicked off back in August. Moving to The Etihad, City ended their property season in 16th place. The Citizens had the biggest house price drop on the whole list, by almost 6%.

Despite sitting in the lower ends of the table, both Manchester sides would finish top if the league was based on achieving higher rental yields for investors. The average rental yield in Manchester is at 6.02%.

At The House Crowd unfortunately we can’t help your club crowdfund the next Mourinho or Pep Guardiola but we can offer you some free handy Manchester guides (North and Central).

A Third of Landlords Have Had A Property Abandoned By Tenants

Some 36% of UK landlords have had a property abandoned by tenants, according to research. (Letting Agent Today, May, 2016)

The NLA’s data shows that the issue is most prevalent in the North East, where 58% of landlords surveyed said they have had a property abandoned.

In contrast, the lowest recorded region for having properties abandoned was in the South West with 31%. In London 33% of landlords experienced similar issues.

The Housing and Planning Act – which includes measures to tackle tenants abandoning properties, will come as a huge relief to landlords up and down the country.

What Are Your Thoughts?

Which of our chosen property stories has interested you the most? We would love to hear from you, feel free to leave us a comment on our Facebook and Google Plus pages. If you prefer to tweet us, tweet @TheHouseCrowd.

In the meantime if you want to know more about Property Crowdfunding do register for our Information Pack which will tell you all about it.

Property News All The Latest Updates

Hi guys welcome to our fortnightly property news blog, as usual we will be taking a look at the latest domestic news and will be taking a look back at last week’s budget to taking a tour of a fairy tale castle in Greater Manchester – can you guess the property’s price tag? If you missed our previous property news round-up catch up here.

Budget 2016: What It Means For The Property Industry

Last week George Osborne made a number of announcements in his 2016 Budget that will affect the property industry here in the UK.

The chancellor, (as quite a few were expecting) did not take a u-turn with regards to the additional stamp duty rate. So what does this mean exactly? In a nutshell, it means an extra 3% levy on top of normal stamp duty rates if you buy multiple properties.

In addition, he also scrapped the “slab” system for tax rates on commercial property purchases. According to the IBT, the reform now works like income tax, with the rate only applied to the portion of the property price that falls into its bracket. He also raised rates in the top price brackets and cut them at the lower end. Moreover, only 9% of commercial property purchasers will pay more.

Mr. Osborne also cut Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rates. On the day it was announced that the higher rate will reduce from 28% to 20% and the basic rate from 18% to 10%. If you’re thinking there has to be a catch there, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The catch is the former rates will still apply for sales of residential property. It’s worth noting that Capital Gains Tax is not applied to profit made on your own home. However, if you own any additional properties then CGT does apply to you. This is bad news if you are a landlord as you will be penalised if you decide to sell. This doesn’t apply to all types of property investors. For example, people who have invested via funds will benefit from lower CGT rates on the profits they make.

On the day it was also revealed that property developers must pay tax on their profits. In addition, the HM Revenue and Customs will bring together a task force for targeting offshore developers in the UK. It has been reported so far that the tax office has identified 100 “high risk” developments.

The government stated in the budget that it will work closely with local councils to identify where they can be given more “planning freedoms” to ensure thousands of new homes are built. Additional financial support will be given to councils that plan to build houses on the outskirts of towns and cities (aka garden villages) which consist of 1,500 to 10,000 homes.

Lastly, it was announced that money will be going to the homeless. Osbourne’s budget said that £115m being put towards helping rough sleepers. The majority of the homeless spending will go towards low-cost ‘second stage’ accommodation. However, while many homelessness charities welcomed the government funding, they stressed that the problems run far deeper than a shortage of money.

What are your thoughts on the budget? What other changes would have you liked to have seen Mr. Osborne include on the day?

Northern Cities Are Among The Best Places To Invest In Property

Northern cities are the hottest up-and-coming areas for UK property investors, according to data released today on affordable homes. (City AM, March 2016)

Research from Which? shows that where property prices are surging, thaey also have an average house price below £200,000.

Liverpool’s city centre takes the top spot for when it comes to affordability. Land Registry data indicates that the average home in the L1 postcode still costs just £120,000 despite house prices increasing 41 per cent over the past year.

Other areas that have seen strong price rises but remain affordable include Bradford’s BD1 postcode which is east of the city’s university.

Manchester’s M12 postcode came fifth on the affordable list with an average house price of £98,000, the area is cheaper than Liverpool’s central district, however prices rises from this postcode have not been as dramatic, rising at 32 per cent.

Property Prices In Manchester Increased Over 30% In 2015

Staying in the north and looking at property prices a little bit more closer to home (part two of the above if you like), Salford’s M5 postcode recorded the region’s highest rises, with the average value of £127,890 representing growth of 34% in just 12 months.

As Select Property Groupmention in one of their recent articles, 2015 was a year in which Manchester firmly established itself as a property investment hotspot. It was named by HSBC as the UK’s number one city for yields, with rental rates being driven by one of the lowest levels of housing supply and a population growing at three times the national average.

Investors have started to whet their appetite when it comes to investing in Manchester due to the fact it has one of the country’s youngest populations, with 60% more 25 to 29-year-olds living in the city. The millennial generation (aka Generation Y) are known for renting and with a vast amount of graduates and others relocating for jobs, Manchester is currently a prime place for property investors.

London Property Prices Rose Almost £500 A Day In January

Moving from the north to travelling ‘down sarf’- London house prices increased by almost £500 a day in January, according to government figures that provide fresh evidence of a “two-speed” property market. (Guardian, March 2016).

Data from the ONS (office for National Statistics) indicates that London and the South East are still dominating and continue to power ahead with double-digit annual growth rates. In contrast, in other regions of the UK such as in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland figures appear to have stuttered to a halt.

According to the ONS, The average London house price hit a record £551,000. This was £15,000 up on December’s figure of £536,000 and an increase of £484 a day.

Dragonfly Property Finance’s managing director Mark Posniak told The Guardian : “This latest annual house price data once again throws into sharp relief the contrast between the housing markets of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They may be geographical neighbours but they could be thousands of miles apart in terms of house prices.”

Fairy Tale ‘Castle’ In Greater Manchester – Can You Guess Its Price Tag?

Want to become lord or lady of the manor? Here’s your chance (if you’ve got a LOT of spare cash lying around that is!) Wharmton Tower, in Grasscroft (Oldham) has eleven bedrooms, a separate coach house and even a stone-built summer house – and is just a short drive from Manchester!

Grasscoft has some well-known residents such as Paul Scholes and Dr. Brian Cox and is ideal for those who love to live in a relaxed and quiet surrounding. BUT to live this life of luxury how much will it cost you?

What Are Your Thoughts?

Which of our chosen property stories has interested you the most? We would love to hear from you, feel free to leave us a comment on our Facebook and Google Plus pages. If you prefer to tweet us, tweet @TheHouseCrowd.

In the meantime if you want to know more about Property Crowdfunding do register for our Information Pack which will tell you all about it.

Property News: All The Latest Updates

Hi guys and welcome to our fortnightly property news edition, today we look at an array of news items from the domestic market from the average home in Britain will cost over a £1 million to looking at the strangest estate agent photos ever taken! In the last property news blog post in our quiz we asked asked about what is all the property in the world worth? The answer was B $217,000,000,000,000!

Average Home In Britain To Cost Over £1 Million By 2032

According to research by the Lib Dems, the average home in Britain will increase from £290,000 to £1.017 million in 2032.

Party leader Tim Farron mentioned in The Telegraph that a child born on the day of the debate faces the prospect of paying at least a million for a home to call their own.

He stressed that relying on the “Bank of Mum and Dad” isn’t an ideal option for everyone, and as a result, it puts a monumental amount of pressure to millions of families who have worked hard and done the right thing.

The Lib Dems research revealed that the average property price in the UK will reach £650,000 within the next ten years, which is an increase of £360,000 on today’s average price.

Farron’s solution, as mentioned in The International Business Times (IBT) is that we need new garden cities, allowing councils to build housing stock, and bring thousands of empty homes back into use.

So how did the political party come to this frightening property statistic? They looked at trends from National Statistics figures showing house price inflation for the past three years. Whether you agree or disagree with their research, it remains apparent that no matter what way you look at the property situation in the UK, we have a crisis on our hands. Again, whether the 1.017 million is accurate or has been hyperbolised, we need to look atalternative ways to get us out of this property black hole.

Yorkshire Property Investment Market On The Rise

According to new research published by the national commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), investment in commercial property in Yorkshire and the Humber increased by 11% in 2015.

Their research claims that a total of £1.765bn was invested in the region in 2015, with £189m of this coming in Q4. However, Q4 saw a fall in deals completed of nearly 30%, 31 compared to 44 in 2014.

The director of agency and investment at Lambert Smith Hampton Bill Lynn told BDaily that: “Despite a reduction in Q4, the figures for Yorkshire and the Humber are nonetheless positive, with an 11% growth in 2015 as a whole. This is something that is mirrored in other regions across the country and shows the continued strength of the investment market in virtually every sector. The indication for 2016 is that supply is robust and a strong year is expected.” (BDaily, January 2016).

The demand for hotels, student accommodation and healthcare (alternative assests) seen in Yorkshire also occurred nationally and was a key driver of activity during 2015, investment also increased to £14.8bn over the year, 53% above 2014’s total.

Are you thinking about investing in property in Yorkshire? If so, why not check out our South Yorkshire guide to help you get started, click here to access.

Manchester Leads The Way As Commercial Property Investment Hits £1.2bn

Leading commercial property information provider CoStar Group research shows that a total £67.5 bn was invested in UK commercial property last year, making it the second strongest year on record and 46 per cent above the 10-year average.

Manchester as we know has been centred around the Northern Powerhouse concept and in addition it was the first city to receive ‘City Deal’ funding and regional devolution.

Being centred around the Northern Powerhouse and having a demand in office space has made Manchester a very lucrative place for investors. As a result, investment in commercial property in the city hit a total of £1.2bn in 2015, a three per cent increase on the £992m recorded in 2014.

Manchester commercial property should continue to attract investment as many investors are looking for an alternative to London. Are you interested in property investment in Manchester? Why not check out our very own Manchester guides (North and Central).

Northern Ireland Sees Sharpest Rise In Building Of New Houses In UK

One Northern Ireland based housebuilder said 2015 had seen the biggest number of developments come up for tender since the housing crash. (Belfast Telegraph, January 2016)

However, the National House Building Council claimed that Northern Ireland’s increase came “from a relatively low base” because house-building slumped so drastically during the economic downturn.

One managing director of a property firm from Northern Ireland mentioned that they faced barriers to house-building that were not present in England. These barriers included sewer bonds, gold-plating of EU regulations and demands to upgrade underfunded infrastructure and services.

The managing director went on to say that despite these barriers they have found ways of overcoming them, in addition, one representative stated : “In general, builders are now more confident about prospects for house-building and this optimism is shared by potential buyers.” (Belfast Telegraph, January 2016)

Richard Ramsey, the Ulster Bank chief economist said the house-building recovery in Northern Ireland still has a very long way to go, though picking-up from the downturn was welcome news.

What Are Your Thoughts?

Which of our chosen property stories has interested you the most? We would love to hear from you, feel free to leave us a comment on our Facebook and Google Plus pages. If you prefer to tweet us, tweet @TheHouseCrowd.

In the meantime if you want to know more about Property Crowdfunding do register for our Information Pack which will tell you all about it.

Property News All The Latest Updates

Hi guys and welcome to our fortnightly property news edition, today we look at an array of news items from the Manchester property boom to leaving you with a quiz!

Manchester Property Boom Map

Student and property enthusiast Ed Howe has put together an interactive map of Manchester which shows all the projects that are taking place in the city to demonstrate the clusters of development activity.

The Newcastle University student is currently studying for a masters in city planning and hails from the Salford area.

His colour coded map illustrates the areas where proposed buildings have been granted for construction. In addition, the map also highlights masterplan areas and transport schemes.

Howe stated: “I think Manchester is pretty special at the moment, as a city we’re starting to attract a lot of investment and cranes are beginning to bounce up onto the skyline once again, constructing skyline-altering schemes.” (Place North West, January 2016).

The masters degree student also mentions that it can be quite difficult to imagine, or remember, all the various developments and that his map makes the city’s regeneration and property boom accessible to the people who live and work in Manchester.

You can view Ed’s interactive map here and read the rest of Place North West’s article here.

The North West of England is the most lucrative region in the UK for private rented sector

The North West of England is the most lucrative region in the UK for private rented sector landlords with Manchester and Liverpool coming out top for rental yields. (Property Investor News, January 2016)

LendInvest’s recent quarterly report also indicates that Cardiff, Coventry and Oldham come next, followed closely by Sunderland, Blackburn and Durham.

The fintech company’s report which analyses changes in trends in rental yields, capital gains and landlords’ total roi, also shows that London and the South East still championing house price growth.

In the report it shows that all of the top 15 performing postcode areas for capital gains are located in London and surroundings areas. Inner London however, sits in 18th place for rental yields but still comes up on top for capital gains.

LendInvest’s CEO Christian Faes mentioned in Property Investor News that there could be some weakening in Londons’s dominance of capital gains tables if house price growth does soften slightly as forecast, and as new buy to let stamp duty hikes take effect.

Buy-To-Let Landlords Storm UK Housing Market

A landlord industry body has claimed that there is currently a rush to purchase buy-to-let properties before a stamp duty hike arrives in the Spring.

ARLA’s (The Association of Residential Letting Agents) managing director David Cox stated in This is Money that ‘Buy-to-let landlords are determined to complete purchases before the changes come into force in April are storming the UK housing market, meaning the lull we’d usually see is less significant.

He also mentioned in the This is Money article that with supply, demand and the number of agents reporting rent increases all declining in December, this could well be the calm before the buy-to-let storm.

In addition he also stated that this period of easing in rents could soon end, with new rules cutting the number of properties available to let.

Many in the property industry have mentioned that after April it will be very likely to see the number of buy-to-let properties on the market begin to decrease, and the ramifications will most certainly have a detrimental effect on renters across the UK.

Brexit poses ‘serious threat’ to UK property investment

A REFERENDUM vote to leave the European Union would pose a serious challenge for the UK property market, according to new research. (Yorkshire Post, January 2016)

A recent poll that was conducted by a group of property experts revealed that 65 per cent, believe that a Brexitwould have a negative impact on investment in UK property.

What was particularly interesting to see it that only 10% of those who were surveyed stated that they would consider relocating their business to another EU country if the UK did leave the EU.

As The Yorkshire Post mentions, survey participants also highlighted their concerns about the housing shortage, rising construction costs and the prospect of higher interest rates, in addition to the property industry skills shortage and planning reforms.

A property industry expert stressed that we want certainty, regardless of the in or out EU debate. He uses the Scottish Referendum example of how many occupiers and investors delayed their decision-making due to having uncertainties.

Quiz Time! What is all the property in the world worth?

What Are Your Thoughts?

Which of our chosen property stories has interested you the most? We would love to hear from you, feel free to leave us a comment on our Facebook and Google Plus pages. If you prefer to tweet us, tweet @TheHouseCrowd.

In the meantime if you want to know more about Property Crowdfunding do register for our Information Pack which will tell you all about it.

Property News All The Latest Updates

Hi guys and welcome to our first property news blog post of the year! The new year hasn’t started well with stock markets coming under severe pressure with the FTSE 100 being down by 5% (its worst start since the new millennium!). In addition, many analysts have predicted more doom and gloom this year (which we will cover in our first story). In China, this year is the year of the Monkey, and we certainly need people who have a huge amount of intelligence and wit (to help us feel a bit more cheery ahead of hard times), both intelligence and wit are associated with people who are born in that Chinese Zodiac year!

A Brief Insight Into The Property Market in 2016

In this country we always talk about property prices, however, this year there will be more to talk about the likes of stamp duty and landlords.

One thing that will happen in both England and Wales will be an increase in stamp duty – from April 2016, those who are seeking to buy a second home will have to pay a 3% surcharge on each stamp duty band.

The ramifications will therefore make things more expensive for second home buyers and also put off other potential buyers.

In addition, it will not only be second home buyers who will be having a tough time in 2016, buy-to-let landlords will also see their stamp duty rise and will also lose some of their tax privileges (which is already in the pipeline for next year).

As the BBC put it (in my opinion I think they are spot on) mention that who would have guessed that a Conservative government would take a dim view of buy-to-let landlords, just the sort of people supposed to be staunch Tory voters?

The irony is that what exactly has happened as we discovered in George Osbourne’s Autumn Statement.

Regulations such as the illegal immigrant regulation will give landlords even more nightmares (this regulation come into play on the 1st February), they will have to check that their tenants have the right to rent in the UK, if not, they face a £3,000 fine.

One analyst predicts that the first few months will be bumpy as some people will rush to purchase buy-to-let properties before higher stamp duty rates take effect. He also mentions that we will see some quite strong growth in prices, and expects to see prices fall for the next few months as that element of demand is taken out of the market. (BBC, January, 2016)

Salford Tops Property Sales In 2015

Salford topped the property sales leader board in 2015, a report which was compiled by Halifax, found that the number of property sales taking place in Salford has jumped by 23% this year compared with 2014, also Pontefract in West Yorkshire was ranked second with 20% of property sales.

The report indicated that many towns across Northern England, the Midlands and Wales saw house sale numbers increase, in contrast, the South saw many of the biggest falls in sales.

Below shows the proportions of property hotspots in regions across England and Wales according to Halifax’s research (stats taken from BT) :

North 38%

Yorkshire and the Humber 26%

North West 29%

East Midlands 2%

West Midlands 20%

East Anglia 4%

Wales 39%

South West 16%

South East 15%

Greater London 6%

Downsizing For One In Three Over-55s Are Dashed Because Of Lack Of Suitable Housing

One in three homeowners over-55 want to downsize but are being prevented by a lack of suitable housing, a report has warned. (Daily Mail, January, 2016)

Researchers found that over-55s hoped to move because smaller homes were easier to manage or because they wanted to release equity to boost savings or pension pots.

Last year, the Financial Conduct Authority’s mortgage sector manager Lynda Blackwell said Britain had ‘a real problem with the last time buyer’ the Daily Mail mention.

What was particularly interesting to find out was that older people from the UK are among the least likely to move in the Western world. Figures from five years ago show that just 1 per cent of people aged 60 and over moved into retirement housing, compared with 17 per cent in The States and 13 per cent in Australia and New Zealand.

If you fit this age bracket and are looking for an alternative way to invest in property we recommend reading our case study section.

England’s 5,000 Biggest Landowners Are Being Asked To Free Up Land For Affordable Housing

The owners of 5,000 of the country’s largest rural estates hold the key to creating employment, economic growth and housing in areas of the country that are experiencing population decline, according to a recommendation from The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). (Telegraph, December, 2015)

The call came as figures show that house prices increased at a rapid rate last month, and many have had concerns that a shortfall of new homes could push the growth in prices higher.

According to Sir Peter Erskine, who has built 22 affordable homes on his family’s Cambo estate in the East of Fife, Scotland, “the big estates are the solution to the depopulation of rural communities”. (Telegraph, December, 2015)

The area near to where his estate is situated has already lost a green grocer and post office, plus the local school has seen a decline in pupils. It clearly shows as Rics‘ head of policy, Jeremy Blackburn mentions that by adding Small amounts of affordable housing can make a huge difference to the viability of rural communities, building just ten units in 1,600 small and market towns in rural areas of the country would solve this rural housing crisis.

Sir Peter Erskine revealed that from experience landowners have dealt with an increasingly hostile political atmosphere and also been held back by high taxes but are willing to create opportunities to effect positive social change in their areas.

Northern Property Hotspots For 2016

Last year Rightmove reported that the price tag for a house in London could rocket to an average of £1 million and this is largely down to high demand, cheap mortgages and a lack of accessible homes in the capital.

Investors are therefore heading north as many have discovered that reduce the amount they pay under the new stamp duty rates by purchasing lower entry level properties in northern areas.

Due to the rise of the Northern Powerhouse and having a very good entry level for investors, the north has rapidly become a very attractive place for those wishing to extend their property portfolios.

In addition, investing in student property have also been on the rise in the north, however, as Economic Voicemention, a recent study that sampled 2,000 UK adults by the specialist property company Experience Invest found that only 17 per cent of respondents said they’re aware that investing in student property can result in a high yield.

So what cities are leading the way in the north? Starting with Liverpool, the Merseyside city offers some of the highest returns in the UK due to being a place that has a high yield when it comes to rental income. With a big student population, Liverpool is an ideal place for property investors.

Manchester has always been another popular choice with investors and is arguably the best place in the North to invest due to being centred around the Northern Powerhouse concept. East and North Manchester have good rental yields and good low price properties. With this being such a vibrant and large city – properties can vary from back to back semis to modern city centre apartments. (Economic Voice, January 2016)

Moving our attention to Tyneside, Newcastle is another favourable place for returns. In some areas, there has even been a 50 per cent rise in rental values due to the massive cultural and business rejuvenation throughout the city. Just like Liverpool and Manchester, it also has a thriving student population which makes it another option for investors who are looking to head north.

Yorkshire cities such as Sheffield and Leeds both have an expanding population and the stamp duty is staggeringly low compared with London. Since both have an industrial past, the likes of warehouses and converted modern apartments are being snapped up.

What Are Your Thoughts?

Which of our chosen property stories has interested you the most? We would love to hear from you, feel free to leave us a comment on our Facebook and Google Plus pages. If you prefer to tweet us, tweet @TheHouseCrowd.

In the meantime if you want to know more about Property Crowdfunding do register for our Information Pack which will tell you all about it.

Crowdfunding News – All The Latest Updates

Hi guys welcome to our fortnightly edition of our hand-picked crowdfunding news stories from around the globe. It has once again been another busy couple of weeks with quite a few projects from around the world taking place, so many that we can’t fit them into a blog post! If you missed our last crowdfunding news edition you can catch up here. Today we travel to the land of Alf Stewart (If you never watched Home and Away we are talking about Australia!) and looking at property crowdfunding and return back to sunny Manchester to look at a crowdfunded cat cafe! There’s never a dull moment in the crowdfunding world!

Struth Mate Property Crowdfunding Comes To Australia!

Property crowdfunding has finally came to Australia and the concept has opened up the market to young investors and those with less cash to invest according to ABC News.

Singaporean-based crowdfunding platform CoAssets (who we mentioned in one of our crowdfunding blog posts from last month) see property crowdfunding as the next big thing in the Asia-Pacific region.

Young investors in Australia want to cut out ‘middleman’ banks, accounting firm BDO chairman Sherif Andrawes mentions that “Crowdfunding provides access to a whole new group of investors, this is not the mum and dad investors that the Government likes to talk about, but rather the under 30s.” (ABC News, November 2015).

He makes a valid point that millennials have already been disrupted, as they organise their day to day life via their smart phone or tablet devices. In addition, Andrawes goes on to say that Generation Y shouldn’t experience a jarring change with regards to the way they interact with the world when it comes to investing as a majority have never been to a bank. In essence they are used to taking full control and cutting out a middleman.

Malcolm Turnball and his government are currently working on legislation to allow businesses to crowdsource debt and equity funding.

By introducing both tight and transparent regulations in place, the smaller investor may be able to get a bigger bang for their buck than they do at the moment with the banks. Moreover, the ramifications can lead to stimulating more transactions and help sustain the economy further.

Property crowdfunding investment steers away from the banks, Andrawes predicts that it will be long before they climb onboard. He thinks that in the next five years that Australian banks will own a lot of crowdfunding ventures.

How Crowdfunding Has Changed Property Investing in the U.S.

Although crowdfunding is still in its infancy, property crowdfunding in America has rapidly changed the way people in invest in property.

This shift has brought benefits not only for investors but also for real estate companies and for the real estate market as a whole. (Forbes, December 2015).

Property crowdfunding on the other side of the pond has become easier for investors due to legislation such as Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act in 2012, some of the previous barriers were removed and smaller businesses and start-ups were now eligible to raise capital and advertise their offerings in more of an open way than ever before.

As Nav Athwalpoints out in his recent article on property crowdfunding for Forbes, the beauty of crowdfunding is that instead of having to rely on connections to pinpoint property deals and having to put $100,000 or more into a single deal, investors can access these deals from the convenience of their mobile devices. He goes onto say that as CEO and founder of RealtyShares he has experienced first hand how easily first time and veteran property investors have found this new approach. As well as having better access, property crowdfunding appeals to many as investors can start investing with as little as $1,000.

Crowdfunding Predictions for 2016

This year has definitely been an exciting year in the world of crowdfunding and also for ourselves from featuring on Dragon’s Den to celebrating our 150th funded project.

But what’s in store for crowdfunding in 2016?

Smarter Crowdfunding – A lot ofpeople are taking a closer interest in what is happening in crowdfunding and how the industry works, and this will continue into 2016. Research from one crowdfunding company showed that crowdfunding investors are highly educated and make rational decisions. They also mention that in 2016 a lot more investors will be investing in larger sums.

More Partnering – It is rumoured that there will be more partnering between so-called alternative investment, traditional investment and major brands. (Bdaily, December 2015). We have already seen this year with Crowdcube and Amazon Launchpad, so watch this space for larger and exciting partnerships next year!

Bigger companies will take interest – Attitudes from bigger companies will change and the will see the light. A few analysts reckon that crowdfunding will become more mainstream rather than a form of alternative investment. This year we have seen companies such as Brewdog raise 10 million pounds with their crowdfunding campaign and can definitely see in 2016 that bigger brands will crowdfund from looking at these standout campaigns.

Investments will be bigger – As previously mentioned, 2016 is predicted to see larger investments. In Bdaily, it was mentioned that over 20 campaigns had raised over a million pounds, firmly placing crowdfunding as a way to secure Series A funding. This trend looks like it will continue next year and we may see crowdfunding become part of more Series B and Series C fundraising.

Crowdfunded Kitty Cat Cafe In Manchester

Sisters Ellie and Sarah Close have set up a crowdfunding campaign in order to open their very own cat cafe in the city centre.

Ellie and Sarah hope their unusual venture will draw in hundreds of cat fans, the idea of the cat cafe is that it will act as a sanctuary offering customers some much needed relaxation and stress relief.

Customers will be able to learn about the breeds and about the individual cats. They’ll even have their own Twitter profiles!

Cat Cafe visitors will be invited to grab a coffee and snuggle up with a cat on comfy sofas and beanbags.

In addition, for a small fee, customers will be able to spend time in the café whilst enjoying snacks and unlimited drinks, free Wi-fi, computers, television and video games (we like the sound of this!).

The sisters are currently seeking £15,000 funding to kit out the cat café with climbing frames, bedding and water fountains, if you are a huge cat fan and are interested, you can view their campaign here.

Unfortunately, at The House Crowd we can’t offer you the chance of having a coffee with your very own Mr Snuggles BUT we can offer you some guides on Manchester (North and Central) and also our South Yorkshire guide. For our southern friends what do you think about our project in Wembley?

What Are Your Thoughts?

Which of our chosen crowdfunding stories has interested you the most? We would love to hear from you, feel free to leave us a comment on our Facebook and Google Plus pages. If you prefer to tweet us, tweet @TheHouseCrowd.

In the meantime if you want to know more about Property Crowdfunding do register for our Information Pack which will tell you all about it.

Property News – All The Latest Updates

Hi guys and welcome to another edition of our property news round-up. Today we look at a variety of stories from last week’s Autumn Statement to looking at Brits who struggle with property terminology. In our last property news blog post we asked you how much did the dilapidated shed in Peckham sell for… we can reveal that it was sold for £920,000!

A Brief Insight Into The Autumn Statement 2015

Last week the government announced to spend nearly 7 billion on building 400,000 affordable (debatable) homes.

A Starter Homes Initiative was mentioned on the day, the announcement will see an extra £2.3bn earmarked for these homes, with direct funding being given to developers to get the process moving. (Which, November 2015).

The initiative caters for households who earn less than £80,000 outside of London and £90,000 for those who live in the city.

Shared ownership allows buyers to buy a stake between 5% and 75% of a home and pay rent on the remainder, this scheme is popular with buyers who will be stepping onto the property ladder for the first time.

Another issue that was raised on the day was the increase in stamp duty for buy-to-let properties. From April next year buy-to-let landlords and people who are planning on buying second homes will have to pay a 3% surcharge. Frazer last week blogged about the budget and how it may affect buy-to-let and property crowdfunding and what the ramifications would mean for the likes of buy-to-let landlords.

In addition, another topic mentioned that was linked to property was specialist homes and reduced rent. There has been a lot of talk about specialist homes particularly for the elderly and those with disabilities.

It was revealed that a £200 million fund will be spent on 10,000 reduced-rent homes that tenants can live in for five years whilst saving for a deposit. Once a tenant has saved up their deposit they are entitled to have the first right to buy the property.

Bed Under The Stairs In A Shared Flat In Manchester Is Advertised For £380 A Month

The claustrophobic looking single bed as pictured on the right hand side is located in the Gorton area of Manchester and has grabbed many people’s attention when it was spotted on spareroom.com for £380.

The rental price, which is in addition to a £100 deposit, the prospective tenant will have to share a bathroom, a kitchen, living room space and a garden.

The monthly rent includes all bills plus broadband, while the room claims to be furnished the tenant will have to find their own parking space if they wish to bring a car as there is no available garage or parking facility to park outside of the Gorton property.

Luckily, at The House Crowd you won’t find any beds under the stairs in our Manchester properties! If you would like more info on Manchester properties and other investments that won’t make you feel claustrophobic click here.

18 Areas In the UK With New Home Development Opportunities

A report from Knight Frank has indicated 18 areas in the UK where economic fundamentals are good opportunities for developers.

The areas that were mentioned in the report were :- Leeds, Manchester, York, Durham, Birmingham, Nottingham, Warwick, Leicester, Brentwood, South Cambridgeshire, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, Exeter, Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, Guildford, Reigate and Banstead and Tunbridge Wells.

Factors that were taken into consideration included economic and employment growth, affordability, and liveability.

In the north, Manchester and Leeds are expected to see the strongest rates of household growth in the next decade, York also scores well, particularly on liveability rankings.

If Manchester and the Yorkshire areas interest you and you would like more information, feel free to take a look at our Manchester guides (North and Central) and also our South Yorkshire guide.

One In Three Property Buyers Influenced By Mobile Phone Coverage

One in three property buyers or renters look for areas that have good mobile telephone coverage as part of their decision making.

Root Metrics (who provide independent mobile phone analytics) conducted a survey on mobile phone coverage and property buyer and found that 34 per cent of buyers and renters regard good phone coverage as vital.

One of the main factors that people are concerned about their signal strength is that 83 per cent stated they have experienced poor mobile phone coverage and 54 per cent mentioned that they have experience some kind of difficulty with their mobile internet.

The survey also revealed that had they known about problems with their mobile phone coverage before moving, nearly a third of participants said it would have discouraged them from buying or renting the property.

Are you currently looking for a property investment that’s in an area with good mobile phone coverage? If so we can help, feel free to contact us here.

Two-Thirds Of Adults Do Not Know What Stamp Duty Means

Nearly a half of Brits have claimed that they do no not understand property or to be more specific, home buying terminology.

A survey which was conducted by First Direct found that most people lack even a basic understanding of key terms. 66% of first-time buyers don’t know what stamp duty means and one in four (25%) don’t know who pays the stamp duty. 5% of Brits think stamp duty is a sales tax based on the square footage of the property. (Financial Reporter, November 2015).

In addition, almost 70% of adults can’t give the correct defintion of an offset mortgage, while 67% of Brits do not know what the acronym ERC stands for (if you don’t know already it stands for Early Repayment Charge).

If you would like to improve your knowledge and understanding on property and investment we recommend watching our latest videos, click here.

What Are Your Thoughts?

Which of our chosen property stories has interested you the most? We would love to hear from you, feel free to leave us a comment on our Facebook and Google Plus pages. If you prefer to tweet us, tweet @TheHouseCrowd.

In the meantime if you want to know more about Property Crowdfunding do register for our Information Pack which will tell you all about it.

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